The Cobbler's Daughter
by Eilean Donan
Summary: Simple re-telling of Cinderella. If you’re looking for twists, there are....maybe a few. If you’re looking for magic, romance, and an HEA, you’ll find it here. Set in same world as The Changeling Child
1. Chapter 1

KAI

Midsummer's day in the small but prosperous – and strategically important – land of Erosia dawned the same way it did most summer mornings there – with a lot of noise and bustle, and, at precisely eight o'clock, the routine swearing from the King's chamber as he woke from peaceful and pleasant dreams and remembered who he was.

Prince Kai threw his pillow over his head and groaned. He too had remembered who he was, and that today was not like any other day – today, he was expected to find a wife at the Midsummer Masque. He echoed his father's rude sentiments as the pillow was yanked from his hands by his mother.

"Young man, clean your mouth out ! Just because that crochety old louse I have the distinct misfortune to be married to uses those particular phrases, does not mean that _you_ should !"

"Go away !" Kai groaned, and yelped as his thick feather quilt, richly embroidered with a myriad of fantastic creatures, hit the floor alongside his pillow, leaving his backside bare to his mother's disapproving scowl. She flung a pair of silk braes at him and he pulled them on hurriedly, his face scarlet.

"I want you on your absolute best behaviour today," she said, handing him his shirt, of a cambric so fine it clung to the contours of his chest, well-muscled from his training in the tilt-yard. Dark fuzz showed through the neckline and he tied the cords under his chin to cover it, noting his mother's speculative look.

"There'll be many fine young women present," she said, "though some barely more than daughters of dukes and viscounts. _Try_ and pick a _princess_."

"Yes, mother."

"And don't you dare use any bad language ! I've noticed you've picked up quite a bit lately – probably from that _man_ who calls himself the King – and I don't want to hear it !"

"No, mother."

"And don't be cheeky !"

"No, mo – what ? How is this being cheeky ?"

"You know how," she sniffed. "It's not what you say, but how you say it. No, not that waistcoat, that doesn't go with the breeches. Try the pearl grey."

"I like _this_ one," he said stubbornly, but he put the grey on anyway. Inspecting himself in the mirror, he wasn't too dismayed. Black hair curled around his jaw, which probably wasn't as square as the minstrels said it ought to be for true beauty, and his mouth was still soft and pink. Large and pretty grey eyes stared back at him, framed with thick black lashes – pretty eyes, _girlish_ eyes. His mouth thinned.

"You should just pick a girl for me," he said, "and save me the trouble."

"It would be convenient, yes," agreed his mother, "but then it would be a business arrangement and we would be bound to offend somebody, most likely our doleful and greedy neighbours of Pensland – but you didn't hear me say that."

"No."

"Well, hurry up then ! Breakfast will be served and there are a lot of guests to meet and greet. And then the tailor, and the barber, and the jeweller, and the…………." His mother's voice echoed around the corridors as she swept out of the room, leaving him to follow at his own pace. He sat down at his vanity table and leaned his head in his hands. A loud sigh escaped his lips, his breath misting up the mirror, and he wiped it clear again.

"That's a big sigh, young man."

He glanced up, and saw a little old lady reflected in the mirror, her head cocked to one side like a sparrow watching him for signs of cat-ness.

"Under the circumstances, I think I am entitled to a little melancholy," he retorted, thinking she was one of the servants come to empty his chamber pot or refresh the flowers in the vases. They weren't usually this late though. He frowned. "Who are you ?"

"Oh, just a little old lady," she said brightly, her eyes gleaming. She pulled an apple from her apron and polished it on her sleeve, which was, to his eyes, a little grubby. Eyes sparkling, she bit into it and chewed thoughtfully.

"I am, in fact a fairy," she told him with a wink. He sighed and rose.

"I'm going to be late for breakfast," he said, "if you have business with my parents then I'll escort you to them."

"No, no, no, young man. My business is with you ! I am here to help you find a wife – to make the right choice."

"Ah, in that case, welcome !" he said, a trifle sarcastically, "I need all the help I can get !"

She looked him up and down, her eyebrows raised. "I don't think you'll have any trouble finding a girl who likes you," she said, "but you may not pick the right one. Listen, there'll be a girl there with something very special about her – and I don't mean the lands she'll inherit or how powerful her father is. Take no notice of what your parents tell you – follow your heart. That way, you'll pick the right wife."

"I don't think my heart is supposed to come into it," he said doubtfully. She glared.

"You're welcome to ignore me," she snapped, "but I know what I'm talking about !" She flung the apple core out of the window, spread her arms, and sprang from the sill. He gave a half-shout of shock, running to stare out of the casement after her, but all he saw was a small brown sparrow darting into the trees. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. The door crashed open, and a servant bowed hurriedly, his face flushed.

"Your Highness," he panted, "the King and Queen…ah…demand your presence…ah…breakfast….uh…."

"Oh, bugger breakfast !" growled Kai, but he followed the servant at a breakneck pace, down into the breakfast room where his parents were waiting for him with grim expressions.

"Well, now that everyone is _finally_ here, perhaps we can begin !" sniped his mother, apparently to the ceiling. His father winced, swore under his breath, and waved Kai to his seat.

"It's going to be one of _those_," he said to his son, who snorted in agreement. "Best just toe the line, eh, son ?"

"As long as the sky doesn't fall on our heads," Kai muttered back, and they shared a brief and guilty snigger, swiftly quenched by the Queen, who tapped her teaspoon against her cup peremptorily for silence.

"It is a great day, a significant day, a joyful…"

"_Must_ you ?"

"Is there a problem, your Majesty ?"

"Yes, there bloody is – your voice ! As if I don't have enough to….."

"Alright, alright !" snapped Kai, "Can we leave the bickering until later ? I just want to eat my breakfast in peace. Please."

"Well !" huffed his mother, apparently to the ceiling again.

"Just wish me luck," said Kai. He cracked his egg, soft-boiled and runny, and stuck a sliver of toast into it, delighting in the pained look his mother gave him as the yolk ran down his chin onto the grey waistcoat. He wiped it off with his cuff, and stifled a grin when she rolled her eyes and covered them with her hand.

"Just for once !" she half-sobbed, "Just _once_, I would like to see my husband and my son behave like royalty ! Just once !"

"It's not as bad as it looks, it'll wash out," said the King cheerfully, digging into his own egg and feeling better already. The Queen pretended to swoon, and Kai choked on a crumb.

His father was right.

It _was_ going to be one of "those".


	2. Chapter 2

ELLE

The needle bit into her flesh again, and she sucked at it, scowling. The dress she was working on needed to be finished in about five minutes' time, and she still had another five feet of hem to stitch. She hoped the fat cow who'd be wearing it dropped her dinner down it, or tripped on the extravagantly-trained hem and fell down the stairs.

_Arse over tit_, she thought wickedly, and sniggered at the words that her stepmother branded "naughty". She jumped as the fat cow in question crashed into the room without even knocking.

"Finished yet ?" the fat cow asked cheerfully, skipping over to Elle and peering at the dress. "Come on, we're nearly ready to go ! Hurry up !"

"If I came with you, I could finish it on the way," said Elle hopefully, "and I've still got seven silk roses that I could attach to the train….."

"Hah – nice try ! But there's no room in the coach. Sorry !" she breezed out again, then popped her head back round the door. "Yell when it's done, won't you, darling ?"

"Of course, dear sister," smiled Elle sweetly, and pulled a face at her sister's broad back. _Fat cow ! Hope she pops her corset laces !_ she thought savagely, and stabbed the needle into the bright blue damask dress.

_If I had a ballgown, it would be……umm_……she tilted her head up to think about it, her eyes glazing over as daydream took her. _Midnight__ blue velvet ? Forest green brocade ? Or maybe a soft silk jaquard in golden ivory ?_ She pulled a strand of her hair down from under her coif and squinted at it critically. Deep auburn, with here and there a twist of a lighter caramel. It slid through her fingers like spun burnt sugar. A deeply, deeply unfashionable colour, deemed unlucky by some, horrifyingly undesirable by others. She'd tried dying it once with crushed walnut shells and some horrible caustic stuff, but it came out a dreadfully dull brown and made her look ill.

"Are you done yet, Elle ?" her sister's voice floated up to her from the bottom of the stairs. The house was not a large one, being a mere hunting lodge of her father's that they were staying in on their way through to Erosia. She would be staying here while they travelled on, and would be picked up again on their way back. She still felt bitter about the lack of an invitation for herself; as the true daughter of the Baron of Linlet, a small district in Pensland, she should have had one. Instead, her two stepsisters Esme and Ethel were going, along with their mother, Lady Charis Howlett. Baron Linlet wasn't going; he'd been a prisoner in the East for several years now and probably wouldn't have come home even if he had been set free.

_I wouldn't either,_ she thought sourly as Esme burst back into the room.

"Another five minutes !" Elle protested, "I'm nearly done !"

"Fine, but hurry up, for Goodness' sake !" huffed Esme, thoroughly flustered from the excitement and panic of going to Prince Kai of Erosia's Midsummer Masque. She hovered while Elle finished the dress, and then all but snatched it from her and ran downstairs with it in her arms. Elle watched from her window as the coach rolled out of the courtyard and down the long drive, soon to turn onto the King's Highway towards the city, less than half a day's ride away. She turned back into her room as the coach disappeared from sight in a cloud of dust, and flung herself on her bed with a loud sigh.

"And why aren't you going to the Masque along with them, dearie ?" asked a voice. She raised her head suspiciously, and started at the sight of the little old woman perched primly in an easy chair, her gimlet eyes sparkling with mirth or mischief, Elle didn't know which.

"Because I've got red hair ?" she snapped sarcastically, "or perhaps because I've been too busy sewing _their_ gowns that I don't have time to make my own ?"

"Or, because they know that with you there, their chances to win the Prince's hand are severely lowered ? Oh, I know, I know – their chances weren't high to begin with !" she dissolved into cackles, and Elle was forced to crack a grin.

"Non-existent, you mean," she chuckled, then sobered suddenly. "Still doesn't change the fact that I'm not going," she said morosely. "Wish I was."

"Well now, that's easily arranged, actually," said the little old lady, fixing Elle with a thoughtful stare. "Hmmmm…….deep gold, I think, trimmed with ivory….yes….silk or damask ? Brocade or chiffon ? Eh, dear ?"

"I'm afraid I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," said Elle.

"Dresses, silly, dresses ! What shall we dress you in ?"

"Now look, I…"

"_Trust_ me, dearie ! Now. Silk, or damask ? White roses for your hair and pearls for your throat – and ears, too, I think….."

"Oh, yes, I must be sure to wear my ears to the Masque," snorted Elle indelicately. "Come on ! Stop teasing. There's no way I can go to that Masque."

For answer, the little old lady pulled a long and twisted stick from her apron and waved it vaguely at Elle, muttering in some ancient language she'd never heard before.

"_Trelewyin ni cambrath allar'ch gwen heffyn ni armor_….aha ! Take a look, dearie !" she spun Elle round to face her mirror, and Elle gasped. "What do you think ? Do you like it ?"

"Like it…..? I…it's _beautiful _!" Elle exclaimed, running her hands lovingly down the slinky gold silk of her gown. It clung at her waist and flared out over her hips and buttocks in a cascade of ruffles. The bodice was sewn with pearls and trimmed with a huge waterfall of ivory chiffon. The chiffon disappeared with an indignant noise from the little old lady, making Elle jump.

"That ruffle was too much, dearie, you've no need of embellishments. Now, let's have a look at your hair." It tumbled about Elle's shoulders in garnet twists, shining with fire and catching the reflections of gold from the dress. Several white roses suddenly appeared in it, fastened in with strings of pearls. She stared at herself in the mirror, her brown eyes wide with astonishment at her own beauty. The little old lady grinned in delight.

"Perfect !" she laughed, "now, shoes !" Elle squeaked as she suddenly stood two inches taller than usual, and looked down at her feet.

"Crystal ?"

"The right shoes are important !"

"Yes, but _crystal_ ? Seriously ?"

"You'd rather have plain old leather ?" As if to prove her point, the little old lady gestured and Elle found herself wearing clumpy brogues of brown leather. Elle sighed.

"No," she said, "the crystal ones are perfect. Thank you. I don't know your name."

"Nor do you need to, dearie ! Now, look out of the window." Elle dutifully looked, and gasped when she saw the coach and six.

"Used to be a pumpkin, and the horses were made out of what I found in your mousetraps. I'll rustle up a couple of footmen from somewhere, but be warned: they'll all revert to their original forms at midnight. On the dot ! Not a second later ! Same goes for your dress. So make sure you're out of there by twelve, or you'll look a right ninny and the Prince won't like you," said the little old lady.

"Who says he will anyway ?" retorted Elle.

"I'm preeeety certain he _will_, young lady. Now, off you go ! Enjoy yourself ! And remember – when the clock strikes midnight……"

"I'll turn back into a pumpkin ! Yes, I know ! And thank you, thank you ! I owe you one," called Elle as she scampered down the stairs, finding it slightly hard to manage in her crystal shoes and a dress full of waterfall ruffles, but somehow she escaped the fate she'd wished on her sisters earlier and made it into the gilded and slightly-oddly-shaped coach in one piece.


	3. Chapter 3

KAI

Prince Kai stood just inside the ballroom door, receiving his guests as they poured in. There seemed to be, to his eyes at least, about a million of them, and all full of it. He greeted yet another simpering young woman and tried not to roll his eyes or faint from boredom or, in some cases, disgust. His father stood next to him, occasionally letting loose a string of expletives whenever there was a brief lull in the presentations.

"Mother would go blue if she heard you use that language," Kai smirked at his father.

"She goes a lot of colours. A veritable rainbow, your lady mother. Shame she doesn't bring any sunshine with her as well."

"She - aaaah, Baron and Baroness vonKarstein ! Welcome ! It is my honour and my pleasure to welcome you to our humble gathering, and to our country of Erosia," said Prince Kai, his smile pasted on his lips like a clown's mask.

"Bloody hell," groaned the King, thankfully unheard by the guests in question. Kai shot him a warning look. The Queen was on her way over, her face puzzled.

"We appear to have an uninvited guest," she began, flustered, "I really don't know what to do ! I have no idea who she is or where she's from, and I just don't know what to _do_ !"

"Find out who she is ?" suggested the King. She glared at him.

"Yes, thank you, Lord Obvious – what I meant was, _how _?"

"Ask her ?"

"And how on earth am I to do that without seeming rude ?" the Queen wailed, "oh dear, oh dear !"

"Yes, my thoughts exactly," snarked the King, "on the other hand, if she's shown up here without an invitation then she deserves it. You - boy, go and ask the wench who she is."

"No,no no !" the Queen grabbed the page as he was about to run and ask the newcomer her name, and dragged him back, "you can't ! It's _rude_ !"

"Fine, just announce her as a mystery stranger," said the King, "Either way, I don't give a crap. Someone bring me a brandy !"

"You are no help whatsoever !" wailed the Queen, pulling out a hanky and preparing to really lay it on thick this time. Kai sighed.

"Right, can we save this for later, please ? Try not to embarrass me – _I've_ behaved well so far and now it's your turn." His tone took on a rather brusque note as he realised how fed up with the whole thing he was.

And then he saw her.

The mystery stranger, though to him she didn't look like a stranger per se, but a beautiful woman, a woman he could happily know all his life and think himself the luckiest man alive. If she would only look his way…..

"_What_ ?" he snapped, suddenly aware that both his parents were giving him funny looks.

"Red hair ?" his mother snarled, pursing her lips.

"It's not red, it's auburn," he protested, watching enraptured as the lamplight coaxed garnet flames from the beauty's hair.

"Red," said his father, and belched loudly.

"And ?" Kai demanded. He glared at them fiercely. "You said nothing about choosing a wife based on the colour of her hair."

"No, we told you to choose a wife based on her status and dowry," said the Queen sternly. "We have no idea who that young woman _is_."

"And I'm going to find out," retorted Kai, and waded through the throng of party-goers to find her. She'd replaced her mask by the time he reached her, but he could still see her lips, rose-pink and soft, beneath the confection of feathers and sequins that hid the rest of her face. He whipped his own mask up just as she turned to him.

"Ah, Mademoiselle, I...er…..may I have this dance ?" He turned red, and was thankful for the mask, especially when her lips curved upwards in a smile. She offered him her hand, and he kissed it, then settled his own on her waist and drew her into the stately steps of the dance. He racked his brains for something witty or interesting to say, and failed. Her perfume was intoxicating and he couldn't think, and he suddenly felt several years younger than he actually was. He felt as if he were floating on air, lost in a beautiful dream.

"She's a bit clumpy, isn't she," remarked the King to the Queen as Kai and his fairytale princess stamped past, utterly enraptured.

"You could say that again," snorted the Queen, eyeing the King askance and wondering what spell had been cast on the palace to make them agree on something for a change.

"It'll wear off," said the King, referring to Kai's infatuation rather than random spells. The Queen shrugged.

"Sooner rather than later, I hope," she grumped, "have the heralds found out who she is ?"

"If they have, they haven't told me," he said, snatching another glass from the tray as it drifted past on the upturned palm of a servant. The Queen glared.

"That's quite enough !" she snapped, "I don't want you getting drunk ! Put that back !"

"Too late !" grinned the King, draining the wine in one draught and swaying slightly on his feet, "I have to get through this _somehow_, anyway."

"You'll be the death of me," moaned his wife, and he nodded hopefully.

"Either that, or the other way round," he muttered, and shrugged at the look his wife gave him.


	4. Chapter 4

**ELLE**

Dancing was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. She'd belatedly realised that she had no idea what the latest dances were let alone how to dance them, and then the bloody Prince had swept her up in his arms and whisked her round the floor like some sort of demented gazelle with more than her fair share of left feet. She was about to go under when the music stopped and the silly man unhanded her, his pretty grey eyes sparkling.

"Can I have the next one too ?" he asked breathlessly. She gawped.

And then the clock began chiming, and she held her breath, searching frantically for it.

_One, two, bingbingbing, five, six, bing, bing…….eleven….bi…._

"No, no, I have to go !" she yelled, snatching up her skirts and bolting for the door, elbowing and shoving past the shocked and disgusted guests in her hurry to get out. One of her beautiful-but-impossible-to-wear crystal shoes came off on the steps but she ran on, the little old lady's warning ringing in her head, and she hurried into the shadows, pulling off her remaining shoe as the dress dissolved back into her workaday dress of plain green wool and her neat white apron. She looked down at her coach, which had reverted back into a pumpkin in front of the astonished butlers at the door, and her horses squeaked and ran off, enthusiastically followed by a large ginger cat she strongly suspected had been the coachman.

"Bugger," she swore under her breath, and walked the way back to her inn. The landlord looked her up and down disdainfully.

"Yes ? Can I help you ?"

"Yes – you can send me up some hot water for a bath, and some cake and wine," she retorted. He looked sceptical.

"Look – it's me, Lady vonLinlet," she said, "don't you recognise me ? I'm dressed this way, if you _must_ know, because I was set upon and robbed by a gang of scoundrels, and I had to borrow clothes from a servant. They took _everything_. I feel quite, quite violated ! Now, about the cake and wine ?"

The landlord tugged on his forelock respectfully. "Well that is a terrible misfortune indeed, m'lady, I shall inform the Watch immediately –ah, that is, after I have seen to your needs, of course, ah….uh….yes, yes, I shall send everything up right away, m'lady…"

"Good. Be quick about it. And no need to trouble the Watch, I had my man inform them, thank you."

She hurried upstairs and stripped, wrapping herself in a towel and wondering how on earth she was going to get back to the lodge. She could get a stage, she supposed, since she still had a small amount of coin with her, but the absence of her own coach would be noticed and she didn't think she could attribute _that_ to robbers. A coach like that would stand out anywhere.

"Damn and blast !" she muttered, and glared at the serving girl who brought the hot water, along with her cake and wine, neither of which was very good. She wolfed them anyway.

Wiping the crumbs from her apron, she rose and picked the crystal shoe up from where she'd set it on the vanity.

_Wish I hadn't lost the other one_, she thought, _'s'not much bloody good by itself._

And that, as they say, was pretty much that. Midnight had come far too soon for her to really enjoy herself, and as for the Prince….well he hadn't even come after her. Likely he'd forgotten about her the minute she'd left and hit on some other floozy instead. One who wasn't a fraud.

_Just my luck ! Oh well, at least I got to actually go….._

She sighed and sank into her bath, letting the dream float away from her on clouds of steam.

**************************************************************************************************************

**KAI**

The clock began to strike, and then the masked beauty fled from his arms.

Kai froze in shock for a moment, but then lurched into action, making his own rough way through the throng after his dream woman and yelling at her to stop.

There was no sight of her when he got to the doorway. He turned back into the ballroom, downcast and a little offended. Something glittered on the stairs, and he bent to pick it up. A crystal shoe, sparkling as the lamplight glittered off the many-faceted heel.

"Well that would explain her clumpiness," said the King, appearing at his side and grinning from ear to ear. He had another glass in his hand, full of a thick syrupy green stuff that was apparently crème-de-menthe but looked more like something the cat barfed up. "Not sure what you saw in her, son – red hair, two – or maybe three – left feet…."

"Shut up."

"Don't be rude. I was just making an observation. And if I might make another, this is going to make your mother the Queen _very upset_, and thus my life will be ruined. Again. I just hope you're sorry !"

"Not this time," said Kai, "I'm only sorry she's gone. I didn't even find out who she was."

"If she'd stayed two seconds longer you would have," said the King, "she'd have taken her mask off along with the rest of us." Kai refrained from pointing out that the King wasn't wearing one.

"Well, she's gone now," he said miserably, casting a disillusioned eye around the ballroom. There were a few pretty girls there, all younger daughters of Viscounts and Barons, and his mother would have a fit if he chose any of them. He sighed. The King clapped him on the shoulder.

"Never mind – plenty more fish in the sea !"

"Which reminds me, I'm hungry," said Kai, with the air of someone who has just realised something important. He eyed the canapés and wrinkled his nose. The King chuckled.

"Kitchens," he said, and took his son's arm. "Your mother will have a fit but she's going to have one anyway so we may as well enjoy ourselves. I bet there's king prawns in cayenne mayonnaise, and roast suckling pig with plums, and fresh bread….."

"Oh, stop, stop, have mercy !" laughed Kai as they made their way towards the kitchens, his stomach rumbling in anticipation.

*************************

He didn't think about the mysterious beauty again until the next morning, when the first thing he laid eyes on when he woke was the crystal shoe.

_What sort of idiot wears a shoe made out of pure crystal,_ he wondered, and bashed it against the wall to see if it would break. It didn't, but it did make his wrist hurt with the impact. He rubbed it ruefully.

"Well, you bodged that one, didn't you, young man ?" said a familiar voice, and he jumped. The little old lady was there again, peering at him above her horn-rimmed spectacles and smirking in a rather quite offensive manner. "What was it, something you said ?" She dissolved into fits of laughter, making his sore head ring. He gritted his teeth.

"She just….ran off," he said, "One minute we were dancing, the next she legged it. And you're the one who said I wouldn't have any trouble getting a girl to like me !"

"Yars, weeeel, laddie…....you didn't even ask her name !"

"Didn't get time. She ran off – or weren't you listening ?" Kai thrust his chin out belligerently and folded his arms. She glared back at him.

"Well, in case _you_ weren't paying attention either, she was the special girl I told you to look out for and nab ! And you didn't !"she flung her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Goodness knows how you're supposed to be king one day – the Gods help us all, that's all I have to say !"

"Yes, whatever, just get out !" he growled, pulling his door open and coming face-to-face with his mother who was bent double with her ear to the keyhole for some reason. She straightened guiltily.

"_What _are you doing ?" he demanded.

"Who were you talking to ?" she countered.

He looked round the room, not really surprised to find no trace of the little old lady. The sparrow on the windowsill gave him a cheeky chirrup and flew off, and he vowed to get a cat for the next time the interfering old bag showed up to upset him. One horror was enough to deal with. He pulled a face at his mother and ducked the clout she aimed at his ear.

"I've come to talk to you about last night," she said, settling herself in one of the blue damask chairs arranged around a finely-carved coffee table at the window end of the room. She waved him to the other, and he sank down into it with a groan.

"Can't I have breakfast first ?" he asked plaintively. She rang a small silver bell and a servant entered.

"Bring coffee and some sweet pastries," she commanded, and the servant hurried off on the errand. "Now, Kai. You had a duty to fulfil last night – to find a wife – and your father and I are aware that all did not go quite to plan. Unfortunately, quite a few of the girls and their fathers are still here, and are requesting audiences with you in the hope you might choose today instead."

Kai groaned, louder than he had before, and sank his head in his hands. The motion ruffled up his black curls and his mother's fingers inched towards the comb he'd left on the table. He batted her hands away and flung the comb in a corner.

"Don't be petulant," she chided him.

"Why the bloody hell not ?" he yelled, "I'm being forced to sign my life away to some woman I don't know and don't want, and you expect me to like it ? Hahhahaha !" That last was said, rather than an actual laugh, making him sound like a madman escaped from a circus.

She gave him one of her steady, expressionless looks, the one that said "I am going to ignore what you just said because I don't want to hear it and I am going to wait here until you say what I do want to hear."

He knew that look, and this time he wasn't going to fall for it.

"I want the red-head," he said, "and I will find her, if I have to travel the length and breadth of Erosia to do it."

His mother rose. "If you insist," she said stiffly, "though how you're going to find her when you have no idea who she is or where she's from – _and neither does anyone else_ – is anybody's guess ! I wish you'd be reasonable, Kai."

He rose himself, and bowed to his mother. "Give me two months," he said, "if I haven't found her by then, I will choose another wife."


	5. Chapter 5

**ELLE**

Scrubbing floors was hard work, but it left her mind free to think.

For one night, she'd been a lady, dressed beautifully, the belle of the ball.

_The Prince himself danced with me_, she thought. She sighed. Three messengers had ridden in that morning and each time she'd expected the news that the Prince had chosen a wife, but each time it had been nothing more than mundane matters to do with the wool trade and her father's release from the Eastern prison he was in.

"Elle, have you finished that floor yet ?" Esme called down the stairs, "I want to go out."

"Nearly done !" Elle replied cheerfully, silently cursing her step-sister. The fat cow was only going for a walk in the gardens and would likely traipse mud all over the foyer floor when she came in. _Why do I bloody bother_, thought Elle, scrubbing hard at the marble. The groom's boy ran in with another message, and Esme clattered down the stairs to receive it.

"Oooh !" she gasped, "ooooh ! Elle, guess what ?"

"What ?" sighed Elle ungraciously.

"The Prince is looking for the red-haired beauty he danced with at the ball ! He's got one of her shoes and he says that the girl that it fits will be his wife ! Oooh, I've got little feet, I bet it fits me !" She ran up the stairs again, calling for Ethel, and Elle could hear them squabbling over who had the littlest feet. Neither of them remembered about the red hair. Elle's was safely pinned up under her coif. It clearly hadn't occurred to them that there had been nothing to indicate the size of the slipper anyway. Of _course_ beautiful ladies had little feet.

The rest of the day was spent in a flurry of panic and bustle as Ethel and Esme tried on every dress they owned, twice, and had Elle do their hair in about fifty different styles each, trying to get ready for the Prince's visit.

"Your feet are disgusting," sniffed Esme, sneering at Ethel's feet which had bunions, "the Prince will never let you near the shoe to try it ! You should get the pedicurist in."

"Shut your fat face, Esme," retorted Ethel, "anyway, Elle can do my feet, can't you, Elle ? I'll have the pink polish."

"Pink !" cried Esme in horror. She took a jar of black polish from the shelf near the vanity, "he's not going to go for a girl in _pink_ polish. He will want someone dark, and deep…" she trailed off, her heavily-linered eyes glazing over as she imagined the Prince's fangs slipping free of his gums and biting into her tender flesh…

"Get real," snorted Ethel, "he's not a sodding vampire ! He'll go for pink. Elle, paint my toenails, there's a dear."

Elle's nose wrinkled in disgust. The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere near those monstrosities, but if it would shut her sisters up…..she bit the bullet and took the pot of polish from Ethel and began to stroke the colour over her toenails, broken and chipped as they were. She wondered if this was going to be the routine every day until the Prince arrived with her shoe – and hoped he'd hurry up. She didn't know how much she could take of this crap.

"Not on my actual feet, you silly little tart – just the nails !" squawked Ethel, jerking her foot back. Elle realised that she'd completely missed her sister's nail and painted her toe instead. She sighed, and reached for the polish remover, then jumped as her sisters both leapt up at the sound of a sharp rapping on the door.

"Open up in the name of his Highness Prince Kai !" boomed a stentorian voice, and Elle sidled over to the window to peek out.

There he was, the prettiest man in the kingdom, standing awkwardly by his horse in the courtyard. His hair was ruffled by his ride, and his cheeks were rosy with the exercise and the cool late-summer day. He wore a white ice-silk shirt and moss-green velvet doublet with silver stitching, and dark grey suede riding breeches. His black boots came to his knees and were polished to within an inch of their lives, though slightly muddied near the soles, and his cloak was of forest green. Elle thought he looked like an elf, not that she had ever seen one, but she'd heard of the people of Carne, a country reached only from Mortua, an exotic country far to the north west by a slim bridge of golden stone. No-one of Carne had ever been seen in the lifetimes of anyone still living, and Elle didn't really believe in their existence.

She jerked back with a yelp as Kai suddenly looked up. He winked, and she whipped the curtains shut with an unlady-like word, which Kai's father would have laughed at and his mother would have fainted at. She heard his laugh filter up from the courtyard, and her sister's voices clamouring to be the first to try the shoe he proffered. She sank into the couch and closed her eyes, hoping it would all be over and he'd be on his way quickly.

Esme burst into the room. "He's asked for you !" she said breathlessly, "though goodness only knows why, little plain old you – why, it's plain silly ! But he's asked, so you'd better come – quickly, quickly, Elle, hurry !"

"Why me ?" demanded Elle, stubbornly refusing to shift even though Esme had hold of her wrist and was pulling hard, trying to jerk her out of the chair and down the stairs.

"I have just said, I don't know ! But apparently, _everyone_ has to try the shoe. So come on !"

Elle found herself dragged downstairs to the drawing room where Ethel, Kai, and three of his attendants were waiting. Kai looked up expectantly as she entered, and rose and bowed politely.

"Oh for Goodness' sake, she's just a servant !" exclaimed Ethel. Jealousy showed plain on her face. Kai shrugged, and held the shoe out for Elle.

"Try it, demoiselle," he said, and she took it reluctantly. She placed it on the floor, raised her skirts a little, and placed her toes in the shoe.

"Oh, ouch !" she gasped, withdrawing her foot as if the shoe had burned her. Face flaming, she watched the Prince. He sighed.

"I've got to try everyone," he muttered, "sorry, demoiselle, I hope I have not caused offence. Do any other women reside here ?"

"No, no, just us !" said Ethel gaily, "we could try the shoe again, it will fit, I just need…."

"No, that will not be necessary," Kai cut her off, and picked up the shoe. He put it back in its bag, and gave Elle a sharp look. "You don't speak ?"

"No, sir – I mean, yes, I do, but….._what _?" she snapped at Esme as Esme snickered rudely. Kai stalked to the door, his face grim. He turned and bowed.

"I thank you for your co-operation, ladies," he said stiffly, "and I bid you good day."


	6. Chapter 6

**KAI**

Kai rode out of the manor feeling despondent, and a little suspicious. There'd been something familiar about the servant girl who'd tried the shoe, but he couldn't decide exactly what. Certainly he was relieved that so far the shoe had fit no-one, especially the ghastly sisters, but he was getting very bored with the search and on the verge of giving up if he didn't find the red-head soon.

"Ride ahead and find us an inn," he said to his squire, "I think we'll call it a day and start afresh tomorrow."

"Right you are, sire," the squire said, pulling his forelock, and cantered off down the road. Kai plodded on with the rest of his troupe, slouching in his saddle and paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings whatsoever.

Which is why he didn't see the bandits, or hear the yell of alarm from his men, until it was too late and he found himself trussed up like a turkey and slung over his saddle, a foul-tasting rag stuffed into his mouth.

_Well that's torn it_, he thought, feeling strangely calm about the whole thing. The shoe in its velvet pouch dug painfully into his hip, but he took comfort from it, thinking of _her_. The beauty he'd never find if he didn't get himself out of the mess he was in.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came to the bandits' camp and Kai was yanked off his horse and flung down by the fire.

"So, what have we here ?"

Kai glared up at the speaker, a burly man with hair so long and black he seemed to be cloaked in shadows. He wore his beard plaited, with several silver bells twined into the ends which jangled whenever he spoke. Kai was distracted, and fascinated.

"Prince Kai of Erosia," said the man who had trussed the prince up. He reached over and tore the gag from Kai's mouth. "He could be worth a fine ransom."

"Could be, probably isn't," said Kai with a shrug. "I have several _older_ brothers." He didn't, but he hoped they didn't know that. "I'm disposable."

"So are a lot of things, doesn't mean they're not useful," said the leader. He squatted down next to Kai and grinned, revealing a set of even, pearl-white teeth. "For example, I am also a younger son, out of seven. And yet I am still very useful to my country."

"And where's that ?"

"Mortua, of course. You could have told that from my beard." The man threw his head back and laughed, his eyes sparkling like faceted jet in his swarthy face, his beard jingling musically. Kai shuddered.

"My name," said the bandit, "is Markel. You might have heard of me."

"I have had the serious displeasure to have had your name spoken far too often in my hearing, yes," said Kai snappishly, and received a terrific clout upside the head for his cheek. He blinked the stars away and felt to see if his ears were still on. He wished they weren't, for they rang so loudly he rapidly succumbed to a headache. He ground his teeth against his misfortune, and unleashed a string of words so foul even his father would have had his tongue out for them.

"What do you want ?" he rasped at Markel, hoping he could pay the robber's price and get out of there.

"Shiny little shoe you got in your pack," said Markel, still grinning. "I heard where it's made out of a diamond."

"Bloody large diamond then - I thought it was just crystal," said Kai, puzzled. Although, when he thought about it, it hadn't even chipped when he'd bashed it against a stone wall. Would crystal have chipped ? Perhaps he should take an axe to it and check.

"Nah, 's'diamond," said Markel, "anyway, hand it over, bucko."

"Get it yourself," said Kai. "It might have escaped your notice, but I'm tied up ? So I can't move my arms."

"Where is it ?"

"In the pouch by my hips," said Kai.

"There's no pouch by your hips !" growled Markel, "where _is it_ ?"

Kai gulped. There was indeed no pouch. He wondered exactly when he'd been relieved of it.

"Er…" he said, turning slightly pale. Markel had a long knife in his hands and was fingering it lovingly and with a touch of restlessness, as if he would turn into a homicidal maniac if he didn't get to use the thing soon.

"Come on, bucko, I ain't got all night," growled the bandit. He turned the blade to the firelight and let Kai see how sharp it was, how shiny with oil, how _dangerous_ in the wrong hands.

"Well, neither have I. Believe me, if I knew where it was, I'd tell you, because, much as I enjoy being tied up and threatened by some younger son of a country I've never even been to, I have an important mission to complete !" Kai hoped he didn't sound as terrified as he actually was. Someone's hand connected once again with his ear, and he swore.

"Will you _stop_ doing that !" he yelled, blinking in pain.

"Sure – just gimme the shoe !"

"I haven't got it, you stupid Mortuan pig !" Kai struggled in his bonds but they held fast and he gave up, panting with the exertion. "One of your men must have taken it," he said, "I had it when they threw me on my horse."

He found himself thoroughly looked over, every inch of his pockets searched for the missing shoe. It wasn't there, as he'd told them. Markel sat back on his haunches and pulled at his beard, frowning. He glanced round at the fire, and muttered a curse under his breath at what he found – or didn't, as the case might be.

"Where's Rowan ?"

"Dunno, ain't seen 'er since half an hour gone, fort she were wiv de 'orses, boss."

"Maybe she's the one who took my shoe ?" suggested Kai.

"_My_ shoe, you mean," corrected Markel. "It wouldn't surprise me, though. She's the best damn thief this side of ….well, the best thief anywhere, actually. Hence why I recruited her. I don't like it when people steal from _me_ though. Someone get after her !"

"What good will that do ?" laughed Kai, "she'll be long gone by now and you don't even know where to."

"Well, you know how I said she's the best damn thief ?" smirked Markel, "There's a reason for that – I only recruit the best. Let me introduce you to the best damn _tracker_ anywhere ! This is Carrel Herne." A man stepped forward, his hair shining red-gold in the firelight. He stood at ease, long legs casually spread slightly to give him a rakish look, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. He had the lean look of a runner, though the twin rapiers hung from his back said he could fight, too.

"Carrel will track and find Rowan, and my shoe," said Markel, "In the meantime, you're staying with me. And no funny stuff ! I'm sick of the lot of you – shower of bastards !" He glared ferociously round at his men, who didn't appear to take him all that seriously, then plumped down cross-legged to eat the thick stew one of his men brought to him in a bowl that looked suspiciously like one Kai had noticed in the last manor he'd visited.

His stomach rumbled. _Fine time to be hungry when the key to the love of your life has just walked off without you,_ he thought, and rolled his eyes at his own carelessness.


	7. Chapter 7

**ELLE**

"That was bloody hard work," said Rowan, handing the crystal shoe to Elle. They stood at the back door of the manor, the yard already illuminated by the dim silvery light of dawn. The household was silent, and Elle was the only one up, having been waiting for Rowan for two hours already. She yawned.

"It is just crystal, you know," said Rowan, "I chipped it, to check. Still worth a bit though, so if you….?"

"Twenty gold pieces is what we agreed," said Elle. She took a full purse from her skirts and handed it to the bandit woman. She envied Rowan, who'd been born low but decided that a life of drudgery wasn't for her and had run off with Markel to make her fortune. _Wish I had the guts to do that,_ thought Elle, taking her shoe from Rowan and stowing it where the purse had been. Rowan took one of the coins and bit it, grinning, as a gypsy would.

"I'll give you another ten gold to make sure that fop doesn't track the shoe back here," said Elle. "I don't want him to find out it was me."

"See, I don't get why," said Rowan, cocking her head on one side and squinting at her friend. "I'm the first to admit to not needing a man for anything, but this one's rich and powerful ! I don't get why you wouldn't want him."

Elle shrugged. She wasn't about to admit her real fears – that Kai wouldn't want her once he found she was nothing but a fraud. A _servant._ Besides, cute though he was, she hardly knew him.

"Just because I danced with him a bit doesn't mean I like him," she said primly. Rowan snorted.

"You don't have to like _him_ – just his money !"

"As you can see, I am able to get as much of that as I want !" Elle shot back, though in truth the fifty gold pieces she had had been hard-won, the product of years of squirreling them away, stealing a coin here, a coin there.

"Oh, well – your choice I guess, though many women would jump at the chance to marry him," said Rowan. She stuffed the pouch down her jerkin and elbowed her horse to one side so she could mount. "I'll make sure he follows a different trail," she promised her friend, and clattered out of the yard.

Elle turned back indoors, stashing her shoe with the other one in its hidey-hole under her bed. She didn't bother to try them on. They pinched, like all good-looking shoes. She wriggled her toes gratefully in her soft leather slippers lined with sheepskin, and sighed happily. She might have a lot of housework to do, but it didn't require her to wear stupid shoes or impractical clothing, or to mind her manners, or visit with stuck-up people she couldn't stand and pretend to like them, or attend balls where prettyboys spent the entire night seemingly entranced by her baps. _Those_ had been a little too much on show for her liking, especially when she had to fish Kai's eyes from between them. Twice. She put her apron on, crisp and white, and went down to the kitchens to blow up the fire, get the water, and start the day's chores.


End file.
